We all know Ben Franklin as a great inventor, a brilliant politician and even a leading author, but did you know that Franklin was also the colonies' Postmaster General? In fact, Ben Franklin understood early on the power of mass communication and used its appeal to revolutionize the postal industry.

Abraham Lincoln has always been recognized as one of the greatest leaders in American history. Photographs of the man known as "Honest Abe" reinforce his reputation for having both an upright character and a serious personality. But did you know that Lincoln had a humorous side and loved to tell jokes?

Eleanor Roosevelt has come to define what it means to be the first lady of the United States. She supported her husband's New Deal policies, and became an advocate for civil rights in America. But did you know that she was the first first lady to hold press conferences in the White House?

In this video clip from Ask Steve, the Southern Strategy is explained. It was the republican party's successful plan of getting the white southern population to shift their views from democratic to republican.

Related Speeches & Audio (10)

Broadcast from a Pacific coast naval base to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on July 20, 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt accepts his party’s nomination for an unprecedented fourth presidential bid and speaks about postwar preparations now that victory is close at hand.

In his April 28, 1935, fireside chat radio broadcast, President Franklin D. Roosevelt praises the newly adopted Works Relief Program and discusses the new Social Security Act recently introduced in Congress.

On March 3, 1933, the newly elected president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, promises a country battered by the Great Depression a renewed prosperity, setting forth plans to put the government to work.

The only U.S. president ever elected to a third term, Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his third inaugural address on January 20, 1941. His remarks stress America’s obligation to take action during the international crisis.

On July 14, 1972, presidential candidate Sen. George McGovern announced the selection of Sen. Thomas Eagleton as candidate for vice president. Eagleton describes his reaction when he received the phone call from McGovern.

With the voting results from Florida too close to call, NPR News is unable to announce a winner for U.S. president on November 7, 2000. The country will wait 36 more days before the contest between Republican candidate Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore is decided.